Time passes so quickly it is hard to believe that I am now coming to the end of my tenure, having been a Trustee for four years and it was three years ago that I was elected as Honorary Secretary. There have been some interesting, challenging times, but some happy ones too. The year started in June 2018 with three new Trustees elected to the Trustee Body and one new member to the Management Committee.
At our 2019 AGM we had two members of the Management Committee and one Trustee standing down and four new members standing for election to the Management Committee. I wish the new members much success over the next few years. The new Management Committee will elect a Chairman, a Hon Secretary and a Treasurer at its first meeting after the AGM.
Our Sub-Committees, as usual, have been working hard, sometimes through difficult times. The F&R Sub-committee is meeting new challenges and is keeping our accounts in good order. Four new members joined this Committee during the last year and this has helped to ease the workload.
Group Support continue to assist established Groups as well as helping new Groups to get up and running. We now have a Motor Cycle Group, which is not only proving popular with our own members, but is creating interest in other local U3As as well. During the last year this Group put together a new Welcome Pack which will assist Group Leaders enormously when organising activities and dealing with incidents within their groups.
Communications continue to keep us all in touch with what is happening in our Organisation by ensuring that we have clear and concise information on the Website and in our own very comprehensive Magazine.
The Social Committee have been busy organising events for us including a very successful Anniversary Celebration in October and the very popular Christmas Lunch . . . and there are still events for us to enjoy during the summer.
Our Working Parties, both Health and Safety and GDPR, have been hard at work keeping us up to date with new legislation.
Horizons goes from strength to strength and we now have a new Team Leader at the helm. Late last year we held our first Forum at Horizons which was well attended and proved extremely informative. It is hoped to repeat this again this year. We also have a new Speaker Secretary, and I have no doubt that we can look forward to enjoying a varied programme of topics over the next twelve months. Future Speaker Meetings will most likely be held in the Ministry Centre.
As I finish my time in Office it is good to see that our U3A is working efficiently and is flourishing, as it should be. It is just left for me to say that it has been an Honour and a Privilege to be both a Trustee and Hon Secretary for the last four years and I would like to thank all the people who have helped and supported me over this time.
I know my successor will be hardworking and efficient and I wish her all the best as she takes up these very demanding roles.
So Au revoir and I hope you all have lots of fun, enjoy learning and the many friendships which our U3A is well known for as you participate in all the U3A activities throughout the coming year.
Linda Burden
Honorary Secretary
Last Updated on July 19, 2019